The Flagpole

It has been incredibly uplifting for us to start to get more pupils back into school this week. The Year 10 and Lower Sixth have had a really good first week back and many thanks to all parents for your support, not least with transporting your children to and from school in the absence of the buses.

Following my letter to parents last week, I have been delighted to receive feedback and speak to parents and pupils about diversity, inclusion and equality at the College. Many thanks indeed to all those who have given their time to share their ideas and thoughts on this with me. We have completed initial curriculum and pastoral audits and will be sharing our plans in this area fully with parents and pupils at the start of next term.

Today would normally have seen the end of the GCSE and A-level examination period; it was a rather surreal experience sending our forecasts to the examination boards last week and we very much hope the pupils achieve the grades they deserve. However, it was a real treat to watch the Virtual Summer Art, Photography and Design Show yesterday with the stunning exam pieces from our students. As I write, we are really looking forward to our “live” Year 11 Thanksgiving Service tonight for pupils and parents and the Upper Sixth Leavers’ Service next week.

A reminder that all lessons (either in school or at home) will finish at breaktime on Friday 3 July. Pupils will then have an extended tutor period followed by a “live” whole school on-line assembly at 11.30am to which we will also invite parents. The Trinity term ends after the assembly around noon.

As we approach the end of term (and dare I say the summer holidays?), thoughts are now turning to the start of the new academic year in September. We started our planning for this some time ago; Covid-19 will not be gone by then, but we are all hoping and expecting that the government guidelines for schools will be much more flexible than at present. We are planning our timetable based around a variety of social distancing requirements and have a number of projects planned on the campus to ensure we can maximise the number of pupils who can be on site at any one time. We are also going to build on the opportunities that greater IT usage and skills, developed during home learning, will provide for teaching and learning when we are back in school. We will, of course, keep you updated on this over the weeks ahead.

Looking ahead to the start of the Michaelmas Term. We were considering bringing the exam years back slightly earlier, but given the great progress that current Year 10 and Lower Sixth have made this term and the amount of work we will need to do to get the school ready for fully re-opening in September, we have now decided against this.

Key dates in August are as follows:

• Thursday 13 August - A-level Results Day
• Tuesday 18 August - Date reserved for Sixth Form Leavers’ Ball at Warwick House*
• Thursday 20 August - GCSE Results Day
• Monday 24 August - Date reserved for the Year 11 Prom at Coombe Abbey*
• Tuesday 25 August - New Staff Induction
• Wednesday 26 August - Staff Training Day
• Thursday 27 August - Staff Training Day
• Friday 28 August - Year 7 and Lower Sixth Induction Day, plus staff training
• Monday 31 August - Bank Holiday
• Tuesday 1 September - Beginning of Michaelmas Term for all year groups.

* Please note that both the Year 11 Prom and Sixth Form Leavers’ Ball will depend upon current government restrictions being lifted, but please save the date.

With all best wishes to you and your families.

Ed Hester

Pupils, parents, staff and friends of the College were cordially invited to view the 2020 Summer Art, Photography And Design Show which this year, for the first time, took place virtually on Thursday 18 June.

Featuring work from A-level Fine Art, Photography, Product Design and Textiles students alongside GCSE Fine Art, Resistant Materials, Electronics and Textiles pupils, and work from the College's Art Club the show was a wonderful celebration of our pupils’ wide-ranging creative talents.

Those who know the College will be familiar with its formidable reputation for quality Art and Design. The walls of the College are adorned with exceptional examples and the work included in this year’s virtual show is no exception, with striking portraiture and photography sitting alongside talented and technically complex product design. The diverse range of mediums and themes are sure to impress.

The show has been put together as a short video which features images of all this year’s examination work and includes introductions from the creative teaching staff including Head of Art and Photography, Paul Hubball, Head of Design and Technology, Paul Scopes, Art Teacher, Sue Harris and Textiles Teacher, Miranda Porter.

Our congratulations go to all our pupils for producing such a display of creative talent. Thanks go to the Art Department and to the Design and Technology Department for all their support and inspiration to pupils this and every year and for their help in putting together such an outstanding show.

Click here to view the 2020 Summer Art, Photography And Design Show. We hope you enjoy it!

Huge congratulations to Year 8 pupil, Honor-Mae Minshull whose poem Connections has taken first place in both the local and district Rotary Young Writer’s Competitions. Her work will now go forward to the third round, the prestigious National Competition.

The Rotary Young Writer Competition aims to encourage young people to use their writing skills and to write with imagination and creativity. In this year’s competition the task was to produce a piece of prose entitled, Connections. The written entry could be fiction or non-fiction, a story or a poem. Always keen to promote writing, the College's English department was pleased to support the competition and this year entered a variety of pupils' work from across Key Stage 3.

Locally more than 300 young people from eight schools across Rugby entered in the three age categories and the Judges greatly enjoyed reading their work. The choice of the winner for each age-group was made by a panel of three Rotarians. Honor-Mae took first place in the Intermediate section, for ages 11-13 years, and her winning entry then went forward to the West Midlands District competition where it won again.

Written for her grandfather, you can read Honor-Mae's winning poem here.

Head of English, Chris Kerrigan, said, “Congratulations to Honor on her superb achievement in this popular competition and on writing such a moving piece of work.”

The latest edition of The Pinnacle has just been published, showcasing our pupils' exceptional work. This special COVID-19 version celebrates the wide variety of wonderful remote learning that, during the lockdown, pupils have participated in and produced.

From the Spring Social Distance-Sing Concert and the Princethorpe At Home Recital to superb Art and DT, English competition winners, History projects, Bridging courses, EPQ and even an Online Bake Off, it showcases flair and ingenuity across a wide range of subjects and year groups.

The Minnacle includes equally impressive work by Crackley Hall and Crescent pupils. It's wonderful to showcase their talents too!!

This edition has been produced as an electronic version only.

Why not enjoy a few minutes browsing through the inspirational work the children do.

Click here to read the Pinnacle and here to read the Minnacle.

During the lockdown period Princethorpe’s Development Team have been reconnecting with our Very Special Old Princethorpians (VSOPs) – the former pupils of St. Mary’s Priory who were taught here at Princethorpe by the nuns before the MSC bought the building and founded Princethorpe College in 1966.

Most of the VSOPs attended Princethorpe in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Things were quite different for the girls of St. Mary's than for today’s pupils. Boarders would bath only twice a week, water for bathing was collected from the spring at Switzerland, all pupils had to do their fair share of cleaning (including the headmistress’ office) and there was no electricity until the early 1950s. Without electricity, internal rooms were lit only by the gloomy light of acetylene gas (which the nuns produced themselves), which led one former teacher to once accidentally smear her face with shoe cream rather than moisturiser (which she didn’t notice until breakfast).

We’ve had to postpone this year’s planned reunion for our VSOPs, but it’s been a pleasure reconnecting with our longest reigning Princethorpians during a time in which many of them have been shielding and self-isolating at home.

We look forward to welcoming them back to Princethorpe for their reunion next year, in September 2021.

Sadly, the planned OPs Summer Supper Reunion on Friday 26 June is not able to go ahead due to the COVID situation. This event was aimed particularly at those OPs who had left the College in 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 or 2010 and were celebrating their 50th, 40th, 30th, 20th or 10th anniversaries of leaving the College.

In its stead we will be releasing a short video compilation comprising a welcome by our Chairman, Peter Rollason, a virtual tour of the College and its grounds, a selection of archive photography from the highlighted years and a special guest appearance by Princethorpe legend, Alex Darkes.

Comments, Peter Rollason, “We hope to rearrange the event or have a ‘Super Summer Supper Reunion’ next year including the leavers with a 0 and a 1 in their leaving year. In the meantime, we hope all the OPs will enjoy the video compilation and the chance to revisit the College from the comfort of their own homes.”

The video will be released on Facebook and Princethorpe Connect on Friday 26 June at 5.00pm.

Nine Sixth Form students have just completed a two-day course in Teaching English As A Foreign Language (TEFL). Taught by Anna Britton, an experienced UK-TEFL Teacher Trainer, the course took place remotely with the students learning from home, and covered topics such as teaching English Language Skills, identifying learning styles and creating learning materials as well as finding work and preparing to travel.  

Princethope’s Sixth Form has offered the TEFL qualification for a number of years. TEFL certification is particularly useful for those students considering a gap year abroad, as it offers a good way to help fund travel. Despite giving up two full days of their weekend, all the Sixth Formers who took part really enjoyed the course.

Head Girl, Abbie O'Carroll-Bailey, said, “It was a brilliant few days and even though we did the course at home our instructor kept us all engaged and interested. It was really worth taking and she also gave us a lot useful information for what to do when travelling in the future. The course was fascinating and she explained everything so clearly and gave me a new appreciation for teaching.”

Deputy Head Girl, Lauren Mason added, “I really enjoyed the TEFL course, and can see myself making use of it in the future. Although the course was intensive, the teacher was very engaging and inspiring (she had many anecdotes about her extensive travel as a TEFL teacher!), so I didn’t regret giving up most of my weekend! The course included a mix of learning English grammar, teaching techniques, and how to teach and travel abroad safely. We all had lots of fun, while learning a lot about the TEFL profession, and overall it was a brilliant experience.”

Congratulations to Elsa Isaacs, Aimee Llewellyn, Lauren Mason, Georgia McCallum, Abbie O'Carroll-Bailey, Olivia Rawle, Jessica Scott, James Walker and Saskia Bassano who all successfully completed the course.

Princethorpe College Estates Assistant Michael Luis is one many Reservists who have been mobilised under Operation RESCRIPT to support the Government’s response to COVID-19.

Michael has been a part of Mobile Testing Unit 36 supporting the government’s drive to increase testing. He has been working in the South East of England and is now halfway through his mobilisation.

Michael has just sent us this picture, saying, "When I saw this sign after we had packed away for the day, I just couldn't resist taking a photo.”

And we agree - it sums the situation up rather perfectly! 

We are very proud of Michael and the work he is doing to support our country as it navigates its way through the COVID-19 crisis and we are looking forward to welcoming back to the fold when he finishes his mobilisation in August.

The Foundation’s junior school in Rugby, the Crescent School, has just premiered their new school film. It features their School Promise and is a celebration of their ethos and values. 

The film cleverly combines live action with the school’s animated Crescent Promise characters to uniquely bring the different elements of the promise to life. Produced by the Foundation Marketing Team and award-winning Affixxius Films, the film was shot over the Lent Term and aims to communicate how the Crescent School Promise fosters and develops the qualities of kindness and tolerance in a safe and caring environment where staff and families work together to deliver an inspiring, challenging and varied education. ​

Comments, Headmaster, Joe Thackway, “The Crescent School Promise expresses our community’s shared values, it is a simple set of guidelines, developed and shared by all pupils and staff, that helps our pupils become Good Friends, Good Learners and Good Citizens.”​

We think it is wonderful. Congratulations to Crescent School, Affixxius Films, Dam Design who created the Promise characters, and to all the pupils and staff who helped and took part in the film - what stars you are! ​

So roll out the red carpet, grab your popcorn, sit back and enjoy the film.

We'd love you to like and share it on social media, hope you enjoy it!

Don't worry if you missed the the Crescent School’s first ever Virtual Open Evening and Live Q&A. Just contact our friendly Registrar, Helen Morley, who will be happy to send you links to recordings of the event.

The Open Event includes a tour of the school, interviews with our Year 6 pupils and the chance to view our new Crescent promotional film, whilst the Q&A explores the education the school provides, how Crescent supports its pupils to achieve great things and the school’s admissions process.

Crescent will have two Reception classes for September 2020 entry and there is still time for parents to apply. There is limited availability in other years.

For more information on admissions and the links to the videos please email admissions@crescentschool.co.uk or call 01788 523851 and speak to our Registrar, Helen Morley.